Overall verdict
Buy
6.9/10
1-year performance
+40.32%
Score breakdown
Up 40.3% over 1 year, 27% of the 52-week range.
Strongest: Profitability 10.0/10. Weakest: Shareholder return 2.3/10.
21 analysts, target +0.7% vs the price.
Ciena Corporation, a network technology company, provides hardware, software, and services for various network operators in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia Pacific, Japan, and India. It operates through Networking Platforms, Platform Software and Services, Blue Planet Automation Software and Services, and Global Services segments. The Networking Platforms segment consists optical networking, routing, and switching products and services.
This segment products include the 6500 Packet-Optical Platform, Waveserver modular interconnect system, the 6500 Reconfigurable Line System, and coherent pluggable transceivers ; and the 3000 family of service delivery platforms and the 5000 family of service aggregation, as well as the 8100 Coherent Routing platforms and virtualization software. The Platform Software and Services segment offers navigator network control suite; and software subscription services, consulting, network migration and integration, installation and upgrade support services, and technical support solutions.
The Blue Planet Automation Software and Services segment inventory management, orchestration, route optimization and analysis, and unified assurance and analytics software; and sells subscription, installation, support, consulting, and design services related to the Blue Planet automation platform. The Global Services segment provides services for advisory and enablement, implementation, and maintenance, support, and learning activities. Ciena Corporation was incorporated in 1992 and is headquartered in Fulton, Maryland.
Sector
Information Technology
Industry
Communications Equipment
Primary listing
Nyse
United States
CEO
Gary Smith
Founded
1992
Employees
9 080
Revenue / employee
525 276 USD
Next earnings
December 10, 2026 (estimated)
Institutional holders
- FMR LLC12.53%
- GEODE CAPITAL MANAGEMENT, LLC2.38%
- Bank of New York Mellon Corp0.55%
- Rest of the register84.54%
3 13F filings as of September 30, 2026: US managers above $100M, filed up to 45 days after quarter end. No insiders, no retail. A share on loan is declared by its lender and by whoever bought it from the short seller, so the total can exceed 100%.
Research uses the underlying stock’s market history. The purchase quote is calculated separately when you review your order.
52-week high
637.51 USD
52-week low
168.22 USD
1-year performance
40.32%
Rising
Year-to-date performance
22.24%
Rising
Drawdown
-53.79%
Major drawdown
Position in the 52-week range
27% of range
Against the world ETF
Over 26 years, from December 2000 to October 2026, the share did not clearly beat the world ETF once risk is accounted for. It earned less, while shaking 3.9 times harder.
$10,000 placed at the end of December 2000 are worth today
| Ciena | $5,639 |
| World ETF | $65,117 |
| S&P 500 | $91,204 |
| Risk-free placement | $15,894 |
The risk
- Shaking:the share moves 3.9 times as much as the world ETF.
- Worst fall:-99 % between January 2001 and February 2009. $10,000 placed at the top fell to $85. The world ETF, at worst: -53 %. The share has not returned to its high yet.
Ciena earned less than the world ETF since 2000
Value of $10,000 placed at the end of December 2000, dividends reinvested, in dollars
- Ciena: $5,639
- World ETF: $65,117
- S&P 500: $91,204
- Risk-free placement: $15,894
Based on past performance. This is not a recommendation.
Range: 114.04 USD - 139.03 USD (comparables only)
The price implies growth of 17.36% per year; the company grows at -10.00%.
Quality and profitability
10.0/10Gross margin 41.6%, net margin 10.9%, ROIC 12.3%, ROE 22.4%.
Net margin
10.87%
Exceptional
Sector 3.96%|S&P 13.40%
Gross margin
41.61%
High
Return on equity (ROE)
22.40%
Exceptional
Sector 3.99%|S&P 17.06%
Return on invested capital (ROIC)
12.26%
Exceptional
Free cash flow margin (FCF)
13.53%
Fair
Profit-to-cash conversion (FCF conversion)
1.24x
Exceptional
Margin stability
7.8 pts
Uneven
Revenue to net income
Growth
6.6/10Revenue up 37.0% over 1 year, 6.2% a year over 5, EPS -18.2% a year over 5.
Revenue (trailing 12 months)
6.0Md USD
Revenue growth (1y)
37.05%
Hyper-growth
Revenue growth (3y)
31.30%
Solid
EPS growth (1y)
424.18%
Hyper-growth
EPS CAGR (5y)
-18.19%
Declining
EPS revisions (3 months)
9.57%
Sharply revised up
Valuation
2.6/10P/E 65.7x, forward P/E 50.8x, EV/EBITDA 39.0x, PEG 0.18. The multiple sits in the 84th percentile of its own 5-year history.
P/E (TTM)
65.7x
Fair
Sector 58.6x|S&P 23.6x
Forward P/E
50.8x
Very expensive
EV / EBITDA
39.0x
Very expensive
Sector 19.4x|S&P 15.5x
PEG
0.18
Growth unpriced
Sector 0.61|S&P 0.91
Fair value (reverse DCF)
126.53 USD
Deeply overvalued
P/E vs its own 5-year history
among the 16% highest valuations
At its historical high
Market cap
41.8Md USD
Financial strength
8.9/10Cash covers 80.0% of the debt, net debt/EBITDA 0.7x.
Net debt / EBITDA
0.7x
Solid
Gearing (net debt / equity)
21.46%
Very solid
Cash
2.6Md USD
Cash / market cap
6.30%
Tight
Cash / total debt
80.04%
Very solid
Interest coverage
10.6x
Very solid
Net debt
656M USD
Equity
3.1Md USD
Closed daily candles, 2 years
Last close on November 10, 2026: 272.10 USD
- MM20316.60
- MM50346.48
- MM200406.08
- RSI 1440.0
Top panel: closed candles, 20, 50 and 200-day moving averages, with volume in grey. Bottom panel: 14-day RSI with dashed 30 and 70 levels.
200-day average slope, 1 month
+2.17%
200-day average slope, 3 months
+12.60%
50-day average slope, 1 month
-9.11%
Price structure
Lower lows
Bullish RSI divergence
Yes
20-day volatility
7.12 % per day
Volatility change
+43.93%
Forecasts by fiscal year
| Fiscal year | EPS | Normalised EPS | Revenue | EBITDA | Net income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2027 | 10.33 (7) | 11.86 (20) | 8 431 (17) | 2 323 (10) | 1 531 (9) |
Amounts in millions of USD, EPS in USD per share. In brackets, the number of analysts. Consensus as of November 3, 2026.
Same sub-industry: 157 companies behind the medians.
| # | Company | Code | Country | Overall / 10 | Fundamentals / 10 | Mkt cap | P/E | Net margin | Revenue growth | ROIC | Net debt / EBITDA | FCF yield | 1-year perf. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ANET | 8.0 | 7.0 | 248Md USD | 52.8x | 40.0 % | 58.5 % | 33.5 % | -2.7x | 2.0 % | 45.8 % | ||
| 2 | 300308 | 7.7 | 7.4 | 83.4Md USD | 22.2x | 31.3 % | 171.8 % | 42.3 % | -0.6x | 0.6 % | 11.2 % | ||
| 3 | CSCO | 7.2 | 7.2 | 397Md USD | 30.3x | 21.0 % | 17.6 % | 18.7 % | 0.8x | 3.2 % | 41.8 % | ||
| 4 | CIEN | 6.9 | 6.1 | 41.8Md USD | 65.7x | 10.9 % | 37.0 % | 12.3 % | 0.7x | 1.9 % | 40.3 % | ||
| 5 | UI | 6.4 | 6.9 | 41.1Md USD | 38.4x | 30.1 % | 39.9 % | 82.3 % | -0.4x | 2.5 % | 16.9 % | ||
| 6 | NOKIA | 6.1 | 5.4 | 46.7Md USD | 56.7x | 4.0 % | 9.5 % | 3.5 % | -0.7x | 0.0 % | 30.2 % | ||
| 7 | MSI | 6.0 | 5.6 | 88.5Md USD | 43.1x | 16.5 % | 12.2 % | 17.3 % | 2.5x | 2.9 % | 35.9 % | ||
| 8 | ERIC B | 5.9 | 7.0 | 34.4Md USD | 18.3x | 8.4 % | 5.8 % | 13.7 % | -0.4x | 8.5 % | 13.9 % | ||
| 9 | LITE | 4.6 | 2.2 | 58.8Md USD | Not meaningful (loss) | -175.8 % | 136.5 % | -173.2 % | -1.3x | 0.6 % | 157.2 % |
